Two teams looking to stay in the playoff hunt meet Monday night in Philadelphia as the Eagles host the Green Bay Packers. Both teams are on a bit of slide after solid starts to the season, but non more ugly than Green Bay’s four-game losing streak. The Packers have surrendered an eye-popping 153 points during their skid and have failed to force a turnover in three of those. Following narrow losses to Atlanta and Indianapolis by a combined six points, Green Bay’s defense has allowed 89 points to Tennessee and Washington in the first two stops of its three-game road trip. Aaron Rodgers continues to put up solid numbers with 15 touchdown passes and three interceptions in his last five games, but even that’s not enough to make up for the horrible defense. Wide receiver Jordy Nelson, who sat out last season with a knee injury, leads the NFL with nine TD catches. Green Bay has won four of the last five meetings, including a 53-20 rout at Philadelphia two years ago. Green Bay sits two games behind Washington for the final playoff spot in the NFC and will return home next week to face Houston.

Carson Wentz led the Eagles to a 3-0 start, but the hype has died off with the Eagles losing five of their next seven under the second overall draft pick. Still, the Eagles are right behind division rival Washington (6-4-1) for the final playoff spot in the conference and also own a 4-0 record at home, including victories over Atlanta and Minnesota in their last two at Lincoln Financial Field. Wentz threw seven touchdown passes against one interception in his first four games, but those numbers have changed with four scoring passes and six interceptions in the last six games. Wentz has thrown for more than 238 yards just once in his last seven games, thanks in part to a below average receiving corps. Wide receiver Jordan Matthews remains his main target with 53 receptions and three touchdowns. Running back Ryan Mathews rushed for a season-high 109 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Atlanta on November 13th, but he injured his knee in last week’s loss at Seattle and is not expected to play. Philadelphia has allowed just 38 points in its four home games and are ranked seventh in the league in overall defense (334.6).

I don’t care how good Rodgers is, he can not score enough to overcome a horrendous defense. The Eagles have been monsters at home on the defensive side of the ball and I expect their offense to benefit from that. I think Philly wins by at least a touchdown.

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Jay Cooper has been with UltimateCapper.com since 2004. His vast knowledge of sports rivals that of only Bobby Babowski. Jay takes pride in not only his writing, but his sports predictions from all the major sports. His favorite sport to follow and predict is Major League Baseball followed by College Football and NCAA Basketball. He is also pretty good at the smaller sports such as the WNBA and CFL. Be sure to check out Jay Cooper's preview and predictions all throughout our website. Contact Jay at webmaster@ultimatecapper.com